System and method for conditioning food product

ABSTRACT

A system and method for conditioning food product is disclosed. The method comprises providing a grill treatment to the food product; packaging the food product; and heating the packaged food product (e.g., partially or fully cooking the food product in its package). The system comprises an apparatus configured to apply a grill treatment to a food product that is being packaged and fully cooked in its package. The system may also comprise a co-extruder configured to extrude the a material layer and a collagen gel layer about the exterior surface of the base layer that is then at least partially coagulated before receiving the grill treatments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from provisional U.S. Application No.60/855,271, filed Oct. 30, 2006, which is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a system and method for conditioningfood product. More specifically, the present invention relates to asystem and method for providing a grill treatment to a prepared foodproduct (such as sausage) that is then fully cooked in its packaging forthe purpose of adding appearance, taste, and/or texture qualitiesassociated with cooking the food product on a grill.

Prepared foods are sold in a variety of conditions, including uncooked,fully cooked, cured, and uncured. Fully cooked, prepared foods aretypically fully cooked before being packaged.

When a food product is fully cooked prior to being packaged, it is alsogenerally known to alter the appearance of food products to provide amore appealing and flavorful appearance, such as applying grill marks tohamburgers and chicken. Fully cooked, prepared foods may also be fullycooked after being packaged. Fully cooking a food product in itspackaging has several advantages over fully cooking prior to packaging,including reducing or eliminating the use of preservative, extendingrefrigerated shelf-life, and decreasing the potential for contaminationof the food product. An example of fully cooking a prepared food in itspackaging is co-extruded sausage, which is manufactured by co-extrudingmeat blend with a collagen gel. The collagen is applied as a gel to anouter surface of the meat and is coagulated to provide an encasement forthe meat. Coagulation typically occurs by subjecting the co-extrudedstrand to a brine (salt) solution to remove water content from thecollagen gel, followed by one or more applications of heat and achemical to cross-link the collagen gel to prevent re-absorption ofwater. The co-extruded method has several advantages over thetraditional method of separately stuffing or packing meat into a naturalcasing, including lower cost (continuous manufacturing of product, costof goods, decreased labor, etc.) and more consistency between products.

Accordingly, it would be advantageous to provide a system and method forconditioning food product. It would also be advantageous to provide asystem and method for providing a grill treatment to a prepared foodproduct (such as sausage) that is then fully cooked in its packaging forthe purpose of adding appearance, taste, and/or texture qualities,properties, and characteristics associated with grilling. It wouldfurther be advantageous to provide a system and method for providing agrill treatment to a co-extruded meat product such as sausage. It wouldbe desirable to provide for a system and method for conditioning foodproduct having one or more of these or other advantageous features. Toprovide an inexpensive, reliable, and widely adaptable system and methodfor conditioning food product that avoids the above-referenced and otherproblems would represent a significant advance in the art.

SUMMARY

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a method formanufacturing a food product. The method comprises providing a grilltreatment to an exterior surface of the food product; packaging thetreated food product; and heating the packaged food product (e.g.,partially or fully cooking the food product). The food product may be asausage with a meat or non-meat base material and a casing formed from acollagen gel. The method may then also comprise co-extruding the basematerial and collagen gel, at least partially coagulating the collagengel, and then applying the one or more grill marks.

Another embodiment of the present invention also relates to a system formanufacturing a food product having a base layer and an outer skinlayer. The system comprises a co-extruder configured to extrude the basematerial layer and a collagen gel layer about the exterior surface ofthe base layer; an apparatus configured to at least partially coagulatethe collagen gel layer; and an apparatus configured to apply a grilltreatment to the at least partially coagulated collagen gel layer priorto the food product being packaged and fully cooked in its package.

Another embodiment of the present invention relates to a system forproducing food product links that comprises a heated upper roller; aheated lower roller; a conveyer including a plurality of cradlesconfigured to move the food product links between the upper roller andthe lower rollers. Each cradle is configured to receive and support afood product link. The heated upper roller and the heated lower rollerprovide grill marks to the food product links as the cradles passbetween the rollers.

The present invention further relates to various features andcombinations of features shown and described in the disclosedembodiments. Other ways in which the objects and features of thedisclosed embodiments are accomplished will be described in thefollowing specification or will become apparent to those skilled in theart after they have read this specification. Such other ways are deemedto fall within the scope of the disclosed embodiments if they fallwithin the scope of the embodiments which follow.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of a system and process formanufacturing a food product.

FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a conveyor apparatus for conditioninga food product.

FIG. 3 is a top view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 3 in an exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of another conveyor apparatus forconditioning a food product.

FIGS. 6 and 7 are side views of FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of an apparatusfor applying grill marks to a food product.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of food products (sausages) that have hadgrill marks applied, packaged, and then cooked in the package.

Before explaining a number preferred, exemplary, and alternativeembodiments of the invention in detail it is to be understood that theinvention is not limited to the details of construction and thearrangement of the components set forth in the following description orillustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of otherembodiments or being practiced or carried out in various ways. It isalso to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded aslimiting.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED AND EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Before proceeding to the detailed description of preferred and exemplaryembodiments, several comments can be made about the generalapplicability and the scope thereof. While the components of thedisclosed embodiments are illustrated as a system and method forconditioning co-extruded sausage links, the features of the disclosedembodiments have a much wider applicability. For example, providing agrill treatment to a food product prior the food product undergoing acooking process in its packaging is adaptable for a variety of foodproducts where it is desirable to condition the exterior (e.g.,providing a grill treatment) for the purpose of adding appearance,taste, and/or texture qualities, properties, and characteristicsassociated with grilling (e.g., grill marks, browning, etc.) and thencooking the food product in its packaging. As used in this description,“food product” or “prepared foods” includes whole, ground, blended,and/or emulsified meat and non-meat products in a variety of forms suchas links (e.g., sausage, bratwurst, hot dogs, wieners, etc. with orwithout a collagen or non-collagen casing), patties (e.g., breakfastsausage, hamburger patties, etc.), rope-shaped, filets (e.g., steak,pork, poultry, etc.), or the like.

Proceeding now to descriptions of the preferred and exemplaryembodiments, FIG. 1 illustrates a schematic block flow diagram of asystem and process 10 for manufacturing food products (e.g., sausagelinks) where a grilling treatment is applied before the sausage linksare cooked in their packaging. According to an exemplary embodiment, ameat (or non-meat) base material (e.g., a “dough” or blend) and acollagen gel are provided (e.g., fed, conveyed, etc.) to an apparatusshown as a co-extrusion machine 12. The co-extrusion machine 12 extrudesthe meat base material and the collagen gel on the outer surface of themeat base material to form a co-extruded rope or strand. Theco-extrusion machine 12 may have one or more extrusion heads to providesingle, dual, etc. co-extruded ropes. The collagen gel applied to theouter surface of the meat is then solidified (i.e., coagulated) bysubsequent operations to provide a casing (e.g., encasement, skin, etc.)for the meat base material. According to alternative embodiments, themeat base is co-extruded with other materials (e.g., sodium alginate)that will form the casing (and which require alternative coagulationdownstream processes).

According to an exemplary embodiment, the co-extruded rope from theco-extrusion machine 12 is conveyed to an apparatus (shown as a briningunit 16) to transform (e.g., coagulate, solidify, etc.) the collagen gelinto a casing that surrounds the meat blend. The collagen gel appliedduring co-extrusion may be susceptible to damage. The brining step firmsor strengthens the collagen gel coating sufficiently for additionalmanufacturing processes. To form the casing, the brining unit 16subjects the co-extruded rope to a solution that removes water contentfrom the collagen gel. According to an exemplary embodiment, thesolution is a brine salt, such as sodium chloride. According to otherembodiments, the solution may be any of a variety of different salts orsolutions that remove water from the gel.

After the collagen gel is at least partially coagulated, the continuousco-extruded strand of meat blend and collagen gel is conveyed to anapparatus shown as a crimper 18. The crimper 18 forms the continuousstrand into segmented portions or links in a pinching operation andseparates the links.

The separated links are then subject to drying and smoking operations.The sausage links are first conveyed to a pre-dry zone 20 where heat isapplied to the links to further coagulate the collagen gel and to raisethe core temperature of the links to partially cook the meat. Furthercoagulation of the collagen continues the process of increasing thestrength of the casing by removing additional water content from thecollagen gel (which by now has been partially coagulated/solidified).The brining step and the heat shrink the gel down to a skin layer.

After the collagen gel is further coagulated by the heat in the pre-dryzone 20, the links are conveyed to an apparatus (shown as a “liquidsmoke zone” 22) to set the collagen. In the liquid smoke zone 22, amaterial is applied to the links to set or “cross-link” fibers of thecollagen so that the collagen layer will not re-absorb water and returnto a gel state or condition. The cross-linking material may be appliedby any of a variety of conventionally known methods, such as spraying,pouring, deluging, bathing, emersion, or the like. The cross-linkingmaterial is conventionally referred to as “liquid smoke” due to its acidcontent and presence of aldehydes, but may be any of a variety ofnatural or synthetic chemicals that cross-links the fibers of thecollagen (e.g., food grade or otherwise allowed by the Food and DrugAgency (FDA) or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)). Thecross-linking material may also be configured to provide a desiredflavor (e.g., smoke, etc.).

After the liquid smoke is applied, the links are conveyed to anapparatus for further heating (shown as a post-dry zone 24) to furtherpartially cook the meat blend, to further dry the gel, and to dry theliquid smoke. Drying of the liquid smoke sets the flavor and color ofthe liquid smoke and prevents the liquid smoke from being washed away insubsequent operations.

After the post-dry zone 24, the links may be conveyed to a water sprayapparatus 26 to rinse residue and non-set liquid smoke.

During the drying and smoking processes, the exterior of the links areconditioned (e.g., undergo a grill treatment) for the purpose of addingappearance, taste, and/or texture qualities, properties, andcharacteristics associated with grilling (e.g., grill marks, flavor,color, or other indicia). Conditioning of the exterior may occur at avariety of locations during the drying and smoking process, which areidentified as “potential grill treatment” 28 in FIG. 1. Exemplaryapparatuses and processes for conditioning the exterior of the links isfurther discussed below with regard to FIGS. 2-7.

Still referring to FIG. 1, after the drying and smoking processes, thelinks are conveyed to a packaging apparatus 30. The packaging apparatus30 preferably packages the links in a thermoplastic material in a vacuumatmosphere that provides a desired seal, tightly conforms to the links,and removes any air from inside of the packaging. Such packaging isintended to minimize potential exposure to oxygen, moisture, andcontaminants and to facilitate the cooking process by eliminating spacebetween the exterior of the packaging and the links to enhanceconduction of heat energy. According to alternative embodiments, thelinks may be packaged by any of a variety of conventional machines in avariety of packaging configurations and materials.

The packaged links are then conveyed to an apparatus (shown as watercook zone 32) that completes the cooking cycle (i.e., provides apackaged link that is fully cooked). According to an exemplaryembodiment, the packaged links are submerged in water heated to apredetermined temperature for a predetermined amount of time.Alternatively, the packaged links are subject to heated water by any ofa variety of means (e.g., spraying, pouring, deluging, or the like). Thetemperature of the water and the time that the packaged links aresubmerged will vary depending on the amount of links, the formulationand size of the link, and the like. Completing the cooking process inthe packaging is intended to reduce the potential for contamination ofthe food product, which might occur if the food product is fully cookedand then packaged. Such contamination also extends the shelf life of thefood product without having to use preservatives.

The fully cooked links are then conveyed to an apparatus to cool theheated links (shown as a water chiller zone 34). According to anexemplary embodiment, the links are subjected to chilled water (e.g.,spraying, pouring, deluging, bathing, emersion, etc.) that lowers thecore temperature of the links to a temperature at a rate designated byregulations of USDA or other entities.

As discussed above, the exterior of the links are conditioned (e.g.,subjected to a grill treatment) for the purpose of adding appearance,taste, and/or texture qualities, properties, and characteristicsassociated with grilling (e.g., grill marks, flavor, color, or otherindicia). “Grill treatment” generally relates to the food product beingsubject to radiated heat (e.g., flame, infrared, etc.) According to apreferred embodiment, the conditioned exterior includes a grilltreatment that imparts, among other effects, a plurality of grill marks40. Grill marks 40 are intended to provide a grilled appearance andtexture as well as flavor to the sausage link by caramelizing and/orbrowning the exterior of the link. Providing such a cooked in packagesausage with a conditioned exterior allows for additional cookingoptions to the consumer. For example, a pre-cooked sausage with aconditioned exterior may be heated for consumption in a microwave orother rapid heating device and yet still provide the desired grilledappearance and flavor without having to go through the effort ofgrilling an uncooked (raw) link. Exemplary apparatuses and process forapplying a grill treatment (including imparting grill marks 40 or otherindicia) to the links is shown in FIGS. 2-7.

Referring to FIGS. 2-4, a conveyor system 42 is shown conveying andproviding a grill treatment to a plurality of sausage links 44. Conveyorsystem 42 includes a plurality of grilling rollers 46 intermittent aplurality of idle rollers 48. The grilling rollers 46 and idle rollers48 are coupled to a chain 50 that is configured to move rollers 46, 48in a predetermined circuit. According to an exemplary embodiment, thegrilling roller 46 is configured to provide links 44 with grill marks(and/or a brown exterior color/tone). The grilling roller 46 includes aplurality of raised portions or projections 52 that are heated to atemperature that would sear or otherwise concentrate heat energy in adesired shape and orientation to provide grill marks 40 or other indicia(e.g., brand the outer surface 54 of links 44). Projections 52 may beheated by a flame (e.g., on interior of circuit) or by an electricalcurrent applied to a resistive element in roller 46. Alternatively, theprojections 52 may be heated by any of a variety of conventionaltechniques. The outer surface 54 of links may also be conditioned (e.g.,browned) by heat emitted from grilling roller (e.g., radiated asinfrared energy) or from the idle roller 48. Grilling roller 46 isrotated about its longitudinal axis so that the grill treatment isevenly applied by roller 46 and absorbed by links 44. Idle roller 48freely rotates about its longitudinal axis and provides support to link44. Grill marks 40 may be provided around the entire perimeter orcircumference of links 44 by projections 52 that are generally uniformin height and width. According to an exemplary embodiment, the height,width, length, and orientation of projections 52 are configured toprovide an accurate simulation or representation of the shape and lookof grill marks that were applied by a grill or to provide a desiredindicia to links 44. FIGS. 3 and 4 show schematic top views of a onelink conveyer system and of a five link conveying system. According toalternative embodiments, any of a variety of numbers of links may beconveyed together (e.g., thirteen links to provide an industry standardsix foot or seven foot length).

Referring to FIGS. 5-7, a conveying system 60 is shown according to yetanother exemplary embodiment. Conveying system 60 moves (or transports)and provides a grill treatment to sausage links 44. Conveying system 60includes a chain 62 and a plurality of upper and lower heated bars 64,66 coupled to the chain 62. The links 44 are retained or secured bybeing in contact with the upper and lower heated bars 64, 66. The links44 are generally stationary relative to the heated bars 64, 66 (i.e., donot roll or rotate). The heated bars 64, 66 include one or more raisedportions or projections 68 that are heated to a temperature that wouldsear or otherwise concentrate heat energy in a desired shape andorientation to provide grilling marks (or other indicia). The height,width, length, and orientation of projections 68 are configured toprovide an accurate simulation or representation of the shape and lookof grill marks that were applied by a grill. Projections 68 may beheated by a flame (e.g., on interior of circuit) or by an electricalcurrent applied to a resistive element in roller. Alternatively,projections may be heated by any of a variety of conventionaltechniques. The outer surface 54 of links 44 also undergo grilltreatment (e.g., browned) by heat emitted from the non-raised surface ofthe heated bars 64, 66.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a conveyor system 100 is shown conveying andproviding a grill treatment to a plurality of sausage links 44. An uppergrilling roller 104 is positioned above the conveyer system 100 and alower grilling roller 106 is positioned below the conveyer system 100.The sausage links 44 are conveyed between grilling rollers 104, 106.According to an exemplary embodiment, the grilling rollers 104, 106 areconfigured to provide grill marks 40 (and/or a brown exteriorcolor/tone) to links 44. The grilling rollers 104, 106 each includes aplurality of raised portions or projections 110 (fins, blades, wheels,discs, etc.) that are angled relative to the links 44 (e.g., a 45 degreeangle relative to the links 44, to the direction of conveyance of links44, and the longitudinal axis of rollers 104, 106). Upper grillingroller 44 applies grill marks 40 to an upper surface of links 102, andlower grilling roller 106 applies grill marks 40 to a lower surface oflinks 44. Projections 110 are heated to a temperature that would sear orotherwise concentrate heat energy in a desired shape and orientation toprovide grill marks 110 or other indicia (e.g., brand the outer surfaceof links 44). Projections 110 may be heated by a flame (e.g., oninterior of circuit) or by an electrical current applied to a resistiveelement in roller. According to an exemplary embodiment, a flame is usedto heat a heating medium above upper roller 104 and a flame is used toheat a heating medium below lower roller 106. Alternatively, theprojections 110 may be heated by any of a variety of conventionaltechniques. Grilling rollers 104, 106 are rotated about its longitudinalaxis so that the grill treatment is evenly applied and absorbed by links102. Grill marks 40 may be provided around the entire perimeter orcircumference of links 44 by projections 110 that are generally uniformin height and width. Conveying system 100 also includes a conveyer belt112 (e.g., chain link mesh) that moves links 44 between rollers 104,106. Belt 112 includes a plurality of spaced-apart cradles 114 thatreceive and retain links 44. Each cradle 114 comprises a pair ofspaced-apart members 116 (e.g., rods, tubes, etc.) that support a link44 located between the members 116. The distance between members 116spaced to allow links 44 to project above belt 112 and cradle 114 andengage rollers 104, 106. Conveyer supports 118 are located on both sides(up stream and down stream) of rollers 104, 106. Supports 118 areconfigured to provide support to portions of conveyer belt 114. Belt 114is unsupported as it passes between rollers 104, 106. FIGS. 8 and 9 showviews of a conveyer system for four rows of links. According toalternative embodiments, any of a variety of numbers of rows of linksmay be conveyed together.

FIG. 10 shows exemplary finished products of links 44 that have receiveda surface treatment (browned exterior and grill marks 40) and thenpackaged and cooked in the packaging.

It is important to note that the construction and arrangement of theelements of the system and method for conditioning food product as shownin the preferred and other exemplary embodiments are illustrative only.Although only a few embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail in this disclosure, those skilled in the art whoreview this disclosure will readily appreciate that many modificationsare possible (e.g., variations in sizes, dimensions, structures, shapesand proportions of the various elements, values of parameters, mountingarrangements, materials, colors, orientations, etc.) without materiallydeparting from the novel teachings and advantages of the subject matterrecited in the embodiments. For example, for purposes of thisdisclosure, the term “coupled” shall mean the joining of two membersdirectly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary innature or movable in nature. Such joining may be achieved with the twomembers or the two members and any additional intermediate members beingintegrally formed as a single unitary body with one another or with thetwo members or the two members and any additional intermediate memberbeing attached to one another. Such joining may be permanent in natureor alternatively may be removable or releasable in nature. Such joiningmay also relate to mechanical, fluid, or electrical relationship betweenthe two components. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended tobe included within the scope of the present invention as defined in theappended embodiments. The order or sequence of any process or methodsteps may be varied or re-sequenced according to alternativeembodiments. In the claims, any means-plus-function clause is intendedto cover the structures described herein as performing the recitedfunction and not only structural equivalents but also equivalentstructures. Other substitutions, modifications, changes and/or omissionsmay be made in the design, operating conditions and arrangement of thepreferred and other exemplary embodiments without departing from thespirit of the present invention as expressed in the appended claims.

1. A method for manufacturing a food product comprising: providing agrill treatment to the food product; packaging the food product; heatingthe packaged food product.
 2. The method of embodiment 1 wherein thestep of providing the grill treatment comprises applying concentratedheat.
 3. The method of embodiment 2 wherein the step of applyingconcentrated heat comprises contacting an exterior surface of the atleast partially coagulated gel with a heated member.
 4. The method ofembodiment 2 wherein the step of providing the grill treatment comprisesconveying the food product between a first roller and a second roller,the first roller configured to rotate and having one or more heatedprojections supporting the food product and configured to apply the oneor more grill marks to the food product.
 5. The method of embodiment 2wherein the step of providing the grill treatment comprises conveyingthe food product between an upper heated member and a lower heatedmember, the upper heated member and the lower heated member each havingone or more heated projections supporting the food product andconfigured to apply the one or more grill marks.
 6. The method ofembodiment 2 wherein the step of heating the packaged food productcomprises fully cooking the food product.
 7. The method of embodiment 6further comprising the steps of: co-extruding a base material and acollagen gel, the collagen gel being applied to an exterior surface ofthe base material; at least partially coagulating the collagen gel;wherein the step of providing the grill treatment occurs after thecollagen gel is at least partially coagulated.
 8. The method ofembodiment 7 further comprising the steps of: applying a first heattreatment to the co-extruded base material and collagen gel; applying across-linking material to the at least partially coagulated gel;applying a second heat treatment to the co-extruded base material andcollagen gel; wherein the step of providing the grill treatment canoccur between the first heat treatment step and the cross-linking stepor between the cross-linking step and the second heat treatment step. 9.The method of embodiment 7 wherein the step of at least partiallycoagulating the gel comprises by applying a material that extracts watercontent from the collagen gel.
 10. The method of embodiment 7 furthercomprising applying a first heat treatment to the food product so thatthe at least partially coagulated gel becomes a skin layer about theexterior of the base material.
 11. A system for manufacturing a foodproduct having a base layer and an outer skin layer, comprising: aco-extruder configured to extrude the base material layer and a collagengel layer about the exterior surface of the base layer; a firstapparatus configured to at least partially coagulate the collagen gellayer; a second apparatus configured to apply a grill treatment to theat least partially coagulated collagen gel layer.
 12. The system ofembodiment 11 wherein the second apparatus comprises a first roller anda second roller, the food product being supported by the first rollerand the second roller.
 13. The system of embodiment 12 wherein the firstroller is configured to rotate and comprises one or more heatedprojections that contact an exterior surface of the food product. 14.The system of embodiment 13 wherein ends of the first roller and ends ofthe second roller are coupled to a pair of spaced apart chains thatconvey the food product in a circuit.
 15. The system of embodiment 11wherein the apparatus comprises a series of upper heated members and aseries of lower heated members, each having one or more heatedprojections configured to engage the food product.
 16. The system ofembodiment 11 further comprising an apparatus to package the foodproduct that has undergone the grill treatment.
 17. The system ofembodiment 16 further comprising an apparatus configured to cook thefood product when in its package.
 18. A system for producing foodproduct links, the system comprising: a heated upper roller; a heatedlower roller; a conveyer including a plurality of cradles configured tomove the food product links between the upper roller and the lowerrollers, each cradle configured to receive and support a food productlink; wherein the heated upper roller and the heated lower rollerprovide grill marks to the food product links as the cradles passbetween the rollers.
 19. The system of claim 18 wherein the upper rollerand the lower roller both comprise a plurality of discs, each having anouter periphery that engages the food product links.
 20. The system ofclaim 19 wherein the discs are at a non-perpendicular angle relative toa longitudinal axis of the food product links.
 21. The system of claim19 wherein the cradle comprises a pair of spaced apart members thatsupport at least one of the food product links.
 22. The system of claim19 wherein the food product links extend out from the cradle to beengaged by the upper roller and the lower roller.